


Moving On

by Percival_T_Honeybee



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Gravity Falls Oregon, Grief/Mourning, Sad, Supernatural Elements, depressing stuff just a warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 11:18:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9546560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Percival_T_Honeybee/pseuds/Percival_T_Honeybee
Summary: This is inspired by a request I received from Tumblr.In the multiverse, there are many different ways that Weirdmaggedon unfolded. In this particular alternate universe--Dimension 41'?--Mabel didn't survive Bill's reign of terror. A few months later, the Pines family is coping with the loss when Dipper discovers something game-changing. In this one-shot, Mabel has returned as a ghost, brought into being by unfinished business.





	

In the end, Dipper decided to take Ford's apprenticeship offer. With Mabel gone, there was little reason not to.

In the early morning, before anyone in the Mystery Shack was awake, Dipper took his usual walk through the woods, his breath coming out in clouds. Frost covered the grass, crunching as he walked. With his hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie, he glanced around at the pine trees, their needles swaying in the wind.

 _It's supposed to snow next week_ , he thought. Sadness and nostalgia twisted in his gut as he remembered the summer weather and the smiles that lived in the past. Dipper was used to this feeling, however, and was now an expert at keeping them at bay. Even though most of the damage Bill wrought on the world during Weirdmaggedon had been reversed, there were some things that were too broken to fix. The shock of the event had faded somewhat; it had been months since Mabel had died. He could now acknowledge the fact without flinching--Mabel was gone, and she wasn't coming back. Now all that was left was a dull ache, as though someone had ripped away one of his legs.

Dipper shook his head, banishing the melancholy. Finding a path, he stuck to it, knowing exactly where it led.

Out of his family members, the one having the hardest time coping with the loss was Grunkle Stan. When his memories returned, he reasoned that if he'd just been a little quicker to say yes to Bill, then maybe Mabel wouldn't have been turned into a glittering, crumbling statue, becoming nothing more than sparkly dust. With two children, Bill only needed one for incentive. After that came the silence. It was only through the combined efforts of Dipper and Great-Uncle Ford that he became more of his old self, which meant cracking more jokes at the expense of other people and penny-pinching.

There were things to be grateful for; his internship with his Great-Uncle had been a dream come true. They made a new discovery for the Unified Theory of Weirdness every day. Still, Dipper couldn't help but feel the hole in his life that Mabel left. In his room in the attic, the other bed was now empty, and there was no one to say good-night to. He wouldn't hear her meowing herself to sleep after a nightmare again.

Dipper stopped, frowning. He had come to a triangular statue--all that was left of Bill's physical form--was sticking out of the ground at an odd angle, its hand reaching to the sky.

He hadn't meant to come here, but apparently his subconscious mind had other ideas. He clasped a hand around his necklace, tugging the familiar chain so that it dug into his skin. The pendant in his fist was a small vial of shiny, white dust--a small part of Mabel that he carried with him. It was never far from his neck.

But today was different. The tiny vial felt like a heavy weight. It dragged him down, reminding him of his loss every time it clacked against his collarbone.

Dipper tugged the necklace off and glared at it as though it had said something nasty. With his anger building in him like a pounding drum, he threw the necklace at the statue. It bounced off with a clink, coming to rest on the grass. He instantly regretted the action and rushed forward to pick it up. As his hands brushed the silver chain, the vial of dust glowed, giving off a milky-white aura.

A person appeared in front of Dipper, hovering in the air and casting a dim light on the forest. Her cheeks were no longer rosy, and her shooting star sweater was a pale version of itself, but there was no mistaking who it was.

Mabel squinted at Dipper and blinked. "Ugh. Dipper? Where... am I?" She looked at her faded hands. "And why do I feel so... floaty?"

Dipper's mouth fell open. He lifted a hand as though to shield himself as he stared at his sister. "Mabel?"

"Yep. That's me." Mabel shrugged, smiling. "What's wrong, bro bro? Is there a monster behind me that I should know about?" She glanced over her shoulder.

"How are you here?"

"What do you mean? It's not like I went somewhere."

"Mabel..." Dipper swallowed, the incident flashing through his mind. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Well, we're going to turn thirteen, so I was planning the greatest party ever. Duh." She rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Do you remember what happened after that?"

"I..." She hesitated, her lips puckering. After a moment of thought, her eyes widened. "Oh." Mabel's positive mood evaporated. "I remember Bill. He..." She bit her lip. "Dipper, am I... dead?" Dipper opened his mouth to answer, but turned away, talking to herself. "No. No, no no. If I'm... dead... then how am I talking to you? This doesn't make any sense!" She pulled up the edge of her turtleneck, covering her mouth.

Dipper's chest ached at the sight of her distress. "You're a ghost," he said gently. "I don't know why you suddenly just appeared. Maybe it has something to do with the necklace." He pointed to the pendant that was around Mabel's neck. Mabel touched the glittering vial. "Ford knows more about ghosts than I do, but from what I've read, ghosts always have a reason for coming back. I guess you have unfinished business."

Mabel put her fingers to her temples. "I can't believe it." Her voice trembled. Mabel gave Dipper a weak smile. "Well, at least I don't have to go to high school now. Gotta look at the positives, right?"

Dipper looked at the ground, clenching his hands into fists, and breathed out slowly. "We need to get you back to the Shack. Grunkle Ford can help us figure this out."

 

* * *

 

Ford spread the schematics for a sailboat on his desk. He narrowed his eyes at the white drawing, looking for any sort of weakness in the design. His eyes lingered on the sailboat's name, the _Stan O' War II_.

"Grunkle Ford, I need to talk to you."

Ford rolled up the blueprint and turned to Dipper, who was standing at the mouth of the elevator. "Dipper, I didn't hear you come in. What can I do for you?"

Dipper opened his mouth and closed it again. He shook his head. "Maybe it's best if you see for yourself. You can come out, Mabel."

Ford raised his eyebrows at the mention of Mabel. He gasped, clutching the edge of the desk when the luminous form of Mabel appeared out of nothing. She gave Ford an awkward smile.

"What's wrong, Grunkle Ford? You look like you've seen a ghooooost." She wiggled her fingers. Mabel's heart wasn't in the joke, but she laughed anyway. "Heh. Classic." She looked down at the floor, frowning.

"Mabel?" Ford came forward, his hand outstretched. He tried to place a hand on her shoulder, but his fingers went through her. Lines formed at the edges of his mouth. "When did this happen?"

"Just this morning. I was taking a walk when my pendant started glowing."

With a hand on his chin, Ford held the pendant hanging from Mabel's neck between his fingers. "This pendant?"

"That's the one. I thought that maybe you would know what to do."

Ford sighed. _I wish I did_ , he thought. "Well, as you probably know, your sister has unfinished business here. As for what it is, I haven't a clue. Once we figure it out, though, Mabel should have no trouble moving on."

"Moving on?" Mabel said. "Wait a second. Who says I even have to move on? Can't I stick around with you guys?"

Ford looked at Mabel for a moment, considering. _I can't let my own selfish desires get in the way of her happiness_. With a deep frown, he shook his head. "You could, I suppose, but that's not really a life, Mabel. Dipper will grow up and change, but you... you'll be stuck here unless you're put to rest, forever thirteen. Is that what you really want?"

Mabel's bottom lip quivered. She looked down. "I just don't want to leave and go... wherever it is dead people go."

"I understand--" Ford began, but he was interrupted by Mabel.

"No, you don't! None of you do. I can't just leave you all!" With that, Mabel fled, floating through the ceiling and disappearing.

"Mabel!" Dipper called, but there was no response. "Grunkle Ford, isn't there another way? I mean, would it really be so bad to let her stay... just for a few years or so?"

Ford's face softened. He got to one knee, looking Dipper in the eye. "Maybe not. But do you think that it will be any easier to say good-bye?"

Dipper's face fell. "No."

 

* * *

 

"And here you will find the slack-a-lope." Stan gestured to a taxidermied, antlered rabbit that was sitting on a small couch. It was holding a remote and pointing it at a miniature television. The tourists clapped, completely oblivious to Stan's pasted-on smile.

While Ford had assured Stan that he could help him with his financial concerns, Stan preferred working in the Shack to the alternative, which was sitting around and wallowing in his emotions. Dipper and Ford were often gone, exploring the weirdness of Gravity Falls. Stan, on the other hand, didn't care to join them. While adventure had its appeal, it had taken Stan a while to get past the events of Weirdmaggedon. By the time his memory came back, the rest of his family had already moved on in their grief. Ford had handled the explanation to Dipper and Mabel's parents; this left Stan with plenty of time to feel numb.

He didn't care to talk about it, anyway. Emotional heart-to-hearts were never really his thing. Instead, he kept working, hoping that the action would take his mind off of things. It rarely did.

"Take a good long look," he said. "You'll never find a lazier rodent... deer thing."

The tourists clapped their hands and snapped a few photos.

Behind the group, something bright flashed by, going through the floor and phasing through the ceiling. Stan stiffened. He didn't get a good look at what it was; all he knew was that some glowing, humanoid creature had floated through the Shack in the direction of the attic.

"You'll have to excuse me for a moment," Stan said to the group. "In the meantime, enjoy looking at this disgusting jar of eyeballs." He gestured to the greenish jar on his right. The tourists huddled around the jar, their cameras flashing.

Stan left the attraction, walking through a door and heading up the stairs. After walking down the hall, he came to the door to the attic. If his guess was correct, the creature would be in Dipper's bedroom. Stan turned the knob and opened the door slowly, making it creak. He heard a muffled sobbing, then saw the source of the noise sitting on what used to be Mabel's bed.

Stan's jaw dropped.

"Who's there?" Mabel's voice called.

"It's... uh, Grunkle Stan." He came through the door, facing the shining apparition. "Mabel? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Or what's left of me, anyway." Mabel sniffed and wiped her nose on her blueish sweater. Waddles was seated next to her on the bed.

Stan removed his fez and set it on Dipper's bed. "Are you real? I never thought I'd be the type to crack, but maybe I was wrong. it's just... I never thought I'd see you again," he said. "How are you in front of me right now? You look... ethereal."

"I'm a ghost, I guess." Mabel lifted her arms and looked at them. "It's funny. I always thought that walking through walls would make the whole thing worth it. But the whole not-living thing? It's not that great." She rested her chin on her curled fist. In her other hand was an old, once-crumpled paper. She let it fall to the floor, revealing a chart with smiling stickers next to the faces of her old friends. The top said _IS EVERYONE HAPPY?_

Stan had to sit on the opposing bed; he felt light-headed. None of this felt real. "Mabel, you have no idea how good it is to see you." Even as Stan said it, he could feel weeks of grief loosening up inside him, relaxing. While Mabel was still dead, the fact that he could still speak with her was more than he could've hoped for. "You wouldn't believe what it's been like without you. I... uh, missed you. A lot." He rubbed the back of his neck, a lump in his throat.

"I know. I'm sorry." Mabel clutched her knees to her chest.

"You shouldn't be sorry. It's not your fault." He ran a hand through his hair. "I shouldn't have agreed to watch you kids for the summer. I knew I would screw it up somehow. I just didn't know how badly."

Mabel glared at Stan. "Don't think like that, Grunkle Stan. This isn't your fault. It's Bill's."

Stan's next breath was heavy. He grimaced at the floor. "I guess." He looked back up at Mabel. "Well, if you're here, then things aren't as bad as they could be."

"That's what I thought," Mabel said. "But Dipper and Grunkle Ford don't think so."

"They've seen you?"

"Yeah. I sort of ran away." She pressed her two pointer fingers together. "They're glad I'm back, but they said that it couldn't last forever. They said that I have to move on."

" _What?_ " Stan stood up. "Move on? Are they nuts? You can't do that. We just got you back!"

"No, Grunkle Stan, I've been thinking about it, and I understand what they mean. I... I don't want to stay here forever. Everyone I know will be gone some day. They're already moving on, living their lives without me." She fell backwards, her head resting on the covers. "It's just not fair."

Stan's shoulders drooped. He rubbed his eyes with one hand. "I'm sorry, Mabel. Things shouldn't have turned out this way."

Mabel got up and drifted to Stan, putting a incorporeal hand on his arm.

Stan sighed. "Thanks, Pumpkin." He tried to rub her hair, but his hand went through her. "Uh, sorry."

"It's fine," Mabel said. Her face grew serious. "Grunkle Stan, I think they're right. I'm going to try to move on."

"Sweetie, you don't have to. For all we know, there's nothing out there. Who's to say that we even move on. Sure, you don't have the same future you thought you would, but you can be here, with us. Don't you want that?"

"Of course. It's just... I feel like I'm supposed to do something. I have an itch to get something done, but I don't know what it is."

"I say that we put that feeling off for as long as possible," Stan said. "Being around with the people who care about you is more important than some _ghostly quest_."

"Ha, yeah," Mabel said, brushing her hair aside and frowning at the floor. "Grunkle Stan, if you don't mind, I think I could use some time alone. This whole 'being dead' thing is a lot to take in."

"Oh. Okay. Um... sure thing." Stan forced himself to take a few steps to the door. He paused, his head peeking through the doorway. Taking one last look at Mabel, he shook his head and left.

 

* * *

 

As soon as Stan was gone, Mabel picked up her happiness chart and stared at the smiling, purple stickers.

"What could my unfinished business be?" she said to Waddles.

Waddles oinked.

"You're right, Waddles. I can't move on when I know that my family is sad. Maybe that's my ghostly quest. Before I go, I need to make sure that they'll be okay without me."

Waddles chewed on Mabel's blanket.

"I like your thinking. It's time to start Operation Happiness Chart: Hard Mode. But how?"

Mabel thought back to Ford and Dipper in the basement. She recalled seeing the blueprints for a ship called the _Stan O' War II_ on Ford's desk. Mabel knew that Stan's boat had _Stan O' War_ written on the side--she'd seen it after her adventure with Dipper on Scuttlebutt Island. _Maybe it's an improved version,_ she thought. _Maybe I can help Grunkle Ford with it. It seems like a good place to start._

She descended to the basement by floating through the floor. The room where Grunkle Ford and Dipper used to be was dark. The blueprint was rolled up on the desk. Taking it, she went to the top floor in search of Grunkle Ford. She found him in the kitchen, but he wasn't alone. Mabel hid and listened to their conversation.

"Shouldn't it be _her_ choice?" Ford said.

"What kind of choice is that?" Stan replied. "How could you tell her that she needs to move on? You don't even know what will happen if she does."

"Stanley, I understand if you want to keep her around for longer. I do too. But she'll want to be put to rest eventually."

"How do you know that? You don't even know what happens when someone moves on."

Ford hesitated. "You're right. I don't. But what I do know is that Mabel won't benefit from being stuck in the same place. She won't ever get older. And when we're gone, what will she do then?"

"Sure. Fine. Whatever." Mabel could imagine Stan folding his arms. "Just don't push her into it."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Ford replied, his words clipped.

When the conversation fell into a harsh silence, Mabel took the opportunity to come into the kitchen. Both of them jumped.

"Mabel, we--um, hi," Ford said. "What can we do for you?"

"Since I'm here, I thought I could help you with something," she said, unrolling the blueprint and setting it flat on the table. "I've decided that I want to move on eventually, but when I do, I want you all to be happy. So I thought that I'd start by helping you build your boat or something. Might be nice."

"What's this?" Stan said, coming closer.

"Oh, it's just a rough idea I had. It's nothing serious." Ford's face turned pink.

"It's a sailboat," Stan said. "The _Stan O' War II_..." He grew quiet.

"It's just an idea for the future, in case you were interested," Ford said.

"I'd like that," Stanley said, the corner of his mouth pulling into a lukewarm smile.

Ford smiled back, then laced his fingers together. "I don't think I'll be building that boat for a while, though. I have other priorities right now--Dipper's education, namely. Adventure on the high seas can wait."

"Oh, okay." A new idea formed in Mabel's mind. "Do you know where Dipper is? I need to talk to him."

"He's out back on the porch. He said he needed some space to think."

"Got it. I'll see you later." Mabel flitted through the house, going through walls just because she could. When she came to the porch, she found Dipper sitting on the stairs. His pen was scratching away at a journal; he was so intent on his work that he didn't notice Mabel sitting beside him. She fake-coughed, getting his attention.

"Mabel? How long were you sitting there?"

"Long enough to read about your creepy people-watching habits." Mabel grinned. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Okay, hypothetical situation: what if all four of us went on a sailboat together on an oceanic adventure?"

Dipper laughed. "Okay, where did you get that idea?"

"Well, Grunkle Ford had these blueprints for a boat, and I thought, hey, why not educate yourself on the ocean? It would be great--a last trip together before... well, that's not important. The important thing is that since I'm ghost, I'll terrify any monsters we come across. You'll be twenty percent safer with me around."

Dipper raised his eyebrows. "You know, that might actually work. It will take a lot to convince Mom and Dad to let me... us... go. Wow. I haven't even considered what I'm going to tell them about all this." He gestured to Mabel, then placed a hand on his chin. "Maybe we shouldn't. It would just make things more complicated."

Mabel twiddled her thumbs, a crease forming between her eyebrows. "Yeah. I can see that." She frowned. "So... is that a 'yes'?"

Dipper smiled. "Yeah. All right. I've missed having crazy adventures with you."

Mabel rubbed the back of her head. "Heh. Well, it's be good to be back."

She looked down at her semi-translucent hands. There was a tension in her non-existent gut, but she tried to ignore it. _I guess I'll worry about saying good-bye when the time comes. For now, I have a boat to help build._


End file.
